Jeremy Hunt has fired a warning to the country as he looks to get the economy in order after a chaotic three weeks in Parliament. The former Health Secretary and 2019 Conservative leadership hopeful was named Chancellor of the Exchequer by Liz Truss yesterday (October 14).
It followed a turbulent few weeks for the new Prime Minister and her Government, following her previous Chancellor's so-called 'mini-budget'. Kwasi Kwarteng's announcement on September 23 revealed a number of tax-cutting measures designed to get the economy growing.
But the measures - announced without details on how they would be funded - spooked the markets. The pound has been volatile, crashing moments after the announcement, before mortgage interest rates soared.
With the Conservative Party's rating in the polls crumbling in recent weeks, Ms Truss sacked Mr Kwarteng as Chancellor on Friday, after just 38 days in the job. Tonight (Saturday), his successor is promising to continue plans to grow the economy.
But Mr Hunt believes the previous proposals were too hasty - and he is warning people in the UK of 'difficult' economic decisions to come. In a statement, Mr Hunt said: "My focus is on growth underpinned by stability.
"The drive on growing the economy is right - it means more people can get good jobs, new businesses can thrive and we can secure world class public services. But we went too far, too fast.
"We have to be honest with people and we are going to have to take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax to get debt falling but the top of our minds when making these decisions will be how to protect and help struggling families, businesses and people. I will set out clear and robust plans to make sure government spending is as efficient as possible, ensure taxpayer money is well spent and that we have rigorous control over our public finances.”
A string of U-turns have followed the 'mini-budget' as the Conservatives try to wrestle back control of the nation's finances - and public opinion. Since the initial announcement of a £43 billion giveaway which was in line to benefit those with deepest pockets most, Ms Truss has scrapped the proposed abolition of the 45p top rate on income tax, before confirming on Friday that corporation tax would increase from 19% to 25%.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Conservatives of 'grotesque chaos' at a speech in Barnsley earlier today. He said: “There are no historical precedents for what they have done to our economy.”
He also called for the fiscal statement scheduled for October 31 to be brought forward, telling the PA news agency: “The crisis we’re facing at the moment is a crisis made in Downing Street and the damage has already been done and is very, very hard to reverse - you can’t reverse out of a car crash. Sometimes this is the consequence of some awful world event, but this is self-inflicted, made in Downing Street, and everybody knows it.”
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